Hollenbach makes case for treasurer's role, is open to running for something else in 2015

For the last two elections, a candidate for state treasurer has campaigned on pushing to eliminate the office, saying it no longer serves the vital functions it used to.

And for two straight elections, Democrat Todd Hollenbach has defeated them. This time, it was libertarian Ken Moellman who called for abolishing the office. (It was Republican Melinda Wheeler in 2007).

“Anybody who looks at it seriously will recognize the constitutional function the office plays,” Hollenbach said at the 0:30 mark of the interview on Pure Politics.

He said the treasurer’s office has to serve as a check-and-balance on the governor. The example he gave (at 2:45 of the interview) was that the treasurer would decide which state checks to send out for necessary government expenses during a budget impasse between the legislature and governor.

He also said he looked into whether it was legal for Gov. Steve Beshear’s administration in September to use internal accounting moves to make a $28 million payment to the federal government for interest on nearly $1 billion in borrowed unemployment insurance money.

“They had ample authority to do it,” Hollenbach said (that discussion starts at 4:00). “I feel very, very confident they had the legal authority to do it.”

Hollenbach, who makes an annual salary of $110,347, said even if the office were to be abolished through a constitutional amendment, the staff functions for balancing Kentucky books and printing the state checks would just be transferred to the state finance and administration cabinet.

“My position would be replaced with a director-level position that probably wouldn’t get paid too much less than I am,” he said just before the 2:00 minute mark.

Find out about his plans for 2015, starting with the question at 5:30 of the video: